Biolubricant synthesis from waste cooking oil via enzymatic hydrolysis followed by chemical esterification

Abstract

BACKGROUND Lubricants manufactured conventionally from non‐renewable mineral oil resources are not biodegradable and are liable to cause adverse environmental impacts. Biodegradable vegetable oils present a promising lubricant feedstock alternative. Waste cooking oil (WCO), which otherwise finds no immediate potential utilization can be successfully used to synthesize bio‐lubricant. A novel synthetic method was developed by using the two‐step process of C. rugosa lipase‐mediated hydrolysis of WCO to free fatty acids (FFA) followed by Amberlyst 15H esterification of FFA with octanol. The octyl esters produced was the desired biolubricant. RESULTS The effect of different physico‐chemical parameters like temperature, catalyst loading, agitation speed, molar ratio of octanol:FFA and the presence of different desiccants on the esterification reaction was examined. The optimum conditions to get maximum yield of biolubricant in minimum time were, octanol:FFA molar ratio = 3:1, temperature = 80 °C, catalyst = 2 g and desiccant (preferably silica gel powder) = 50% weight of FFA. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed that the product formed was ester. CONCLUSION Biolubricant (octyl esters) was prepared efficiently from WCO by the two‐step process developed. This novel approach represents a viable means of producing lubricants from wastes which are renewable in nature and can be an alternative to non‐renewable mineral oil feedstocks. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry

Chemically Modifying Vegetable Oils to Prepare Green Lubricants

“…Different catalysts have been used to hydrolyze VOs/fatty esters. Avisha et al discovered a novel synthetic method to produce biolubricants by using the two-step process of Candida rugosa lipase-mediated hydrolysis of waste cooking oil (WCO) to FFAs followed by Amberlyst 15H esterification of them with octanol [95]. The octyl esters thus produced have been used as the desired biolubricant.…”

Parameter Effect on Tribology Performance of Biopolymer Composite Green Lubricant

“…(3) As a matter of fact, friction/lubrication is even more critical today: it is about the sustainability of the earth. (4,5) Good green tribological materials have several important features in common: (1) environmentally friendly (from nature), e.g., natural oils, including soybean oil and coconut oil, and plant cellulose; (6,7) (2) biologically decomposable; (8) (3) widely applicable; (9)(10)(11)(12) (4) easy to prepare; (13,14) and (5) reliable tribological performance. (15)(16)(17) In contrast to traditional petrochemical oil products, the lubrication performance characteristics (friction and wear reduction) of green tribological materials that meet the above requirements are not as good as those of the former.…”

Bio-lubricants Derived from Waste Cooking Oil with Improved Oxidation Stability and Low-temperature Properties

“…However, most researches related to waste cooking oils are focused on the use of fatty acids from WCO for the production of biodiesel 19,20 . There is few literatures reported chemical modification of WCO to produce bio-lubricants 21,22 .…”